The Berlinale Talent Campus is an excellent program that takes place every year during the Berlin Film Festival. The application is open from July 15th to October 6th. The talent campus is a six-day creative summit for up-and-coming filmmakers. The next edition is from February 12-17, 2011.

Filmmakers are flown to Berlin for the festival and put up in hostiles. There are networking events, which are especially grand because the community is so international. As an American filmmaker with a European project, this might be a way to meet German/French/Spanish producers who could tap into European subsidies to produce your film. The talent campus has a number of masterclasses with renowned filmmakers. When I lived in Berlin I saw Wim Wenders, Janusz Kaminski and Tilda Swinton in one week. All events, including many festival screenings are free for participants.
I think as a filmmaker it would be intelligent to go to the talent campus with an actual project you would like to make in Europe. Then you have a tangible goal to talk to people about, as well as something to stay in touch over with the people you meet there. If you’re in the screenwriters lab, you can get feedback on what you’ve written.

Otherwise it can also be a fantastic opportunity to spend a movie-filled week in one of the greatest cities in the world. Alumni and selected participants of the talent campus are also eligible to apply for the Berlin Today Award:

The award offers five young directing talents the chance to produce a short film in cooperation with a Berlin / Brandenburg based production company. The nominated films celebrate their world premiere during the Berlinale Talent Campus. The winning film, chosen by a jury, will receive the BERLIN TODAY AWARD during a gala ceremony.

Eligible for participation in the BERLIN TODAY AWARD 2010 are
- all persons with a complete application for the Berlinale Talent Campus 2009
- all participants of the Berlinale Talent Campus 2003-2008 (Alumni).

The programs continue with special hands on labs (which require a special application) including

THE SCORE COMPET ITION for score composers and sound designers, THE CAMPUS STUDIO for directors, producers, cinematographers, and editors involved in post-production stage, THE SCRIPT & DOC STATION for scriptwriters and documentary filmmakers, THE TALENT PROJECT MARKET for collaborating producers and directors, THE TALENT PRESS for film critics, THE BERLIN TODAY AWARD for directors and THE TALENT ACTORS STAGE.

All of these are extremely valuable opportunities to further the life of a project and filmmaking career. To apply for the campus (and all the other programs) you have to fit these minor eligibility requirements:

• Are you fluent in English? (In particular, can you fill out the application in English and understand a lecture or discussion in English?)
• Do you work or study in the areas of screenwriting, documentary filmmaking, producing, directing, cinematography, acting, editing, film criticism, sound design, film music composition, art direction or production design?
• Have you worked on a short film that was awarded a prize OR Has your work been screened at an international film festival OR Have you worked on a film of at least 60 minutes in length OR Are you a film student in your final year or in a post-graduate programme?
• Will this be your first time at the Berlinale Talent Campus, or are you a Campus alumni that wishes to apply to the Talent Project Market or to the Berlin Today Award?

Application opens July 15th. Good luck!